Color photographs from silver halide color photographic materials are increasingly much in demand, and photographed films are forwarded to a process shop at any time and anywhere to rapidly and inexpensively obtain color photographs. There are particular requirements for stabilization of the final quality of color prints, reduction of the defective fraction in formation of color prints and improvement of the image quality, especially the color reproducibility, of color images formed.
Recently, the progress of the techniques of silver halide emulsions and coloring agents used in color photographic materials, as well as those for processing of color photographic materials for color development, is remarkable. However, the technique is suitably printing a printing color photographic material through a print original formed from a taking color photographic material, i.e., the technique of exposing the blue-sensitive layer, the green-sensitive layer or the red-sensitive layer of a printing color photographic material independently and well-balanced for the blue light component, the green light component or the red light component in accordance with a print original remains an important factor for improving the finished image quality.
A method of using a color filter in a printer has been proposed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,389 (French Pat. No. 1,248,376 and JP-A-51-113627--the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), so as to stabilize the finished quality of a color photographic image formed. Further, a method of using an optical filter has been proposed in JP-A-53-64037, so as to improve the spectrally sensitivity of the printer sensor for detecting the color tone of a print original as well as to improve the color separation of the light components of blue, green and light for exposure so that the printing color photographic material conforms to the print original. In addition, a method of providing a dye-containing filter layer has been proposed in British Pat. No. 1,015,683, French Pat. No. 1,248,376, JP-B-51-1419 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication") and JP-A-60-45237; and a method of using a substractive color filter together with a filter for removing the intersecting wavelength portions in the spectral sensitivity curves of a copying photographic paper in enlargement printing or copy printing of photographic images by a subtractive process has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,807.
However, there are various problems of interlayer color mixing in the respective light-sensitive materials of a taking color photographic material to be used forming a print original, the spectral transmittance characteristics of the color image formed on the material, the spectral sensitivity distribution of a printing color photographic material and the spectral absorption characteristic of the color image formed on the material, as well as the formation of stains and the side-coloration by residual dyes in the step of color development and the interlayer color mixing during the step of color development. The color separation filters mentioned above cannot satisfactorily be utilized n practice since the practical effects of such filters have not been fully investigated. Since the spectral transmittance characteristics of such filters are not pertinent, the printing time would be prolonged so that the adjustment of the respective exposure components for obtaining color balance would often be rather difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,807 and JP-A-53-64037 are silent on the constitutional element for preferred filters.
A means of improving the color reproducibility by incorporating a photographic dye into a color photographic material so as to correct the spectral sensitivity distribution of the material has been described, for example, in JP-B-51-1419. In addition, a means of fixing such a photographic dye in a particular layer in the photographic material is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,247,127, 2,390,707, 2,255,077, 2,493,747, 2,843,486, 4,420,555, 2,548,564, 2,484,430, 3,148,061 and 3,756,814. However, when this technique is applied to a taking color photographic material, the resulting spectral absorption width is broad and the sensitivity of any light-sensitive layer of the color photographic materials lowered. When applied to a printing photographic material, this would often cause side-coloration or residual dyes.
On the other hand, as a color-mixing preventing agent, the compounds represented by formula (I) shown below are used in the photographic material as is disclosed in JP-A-61-20037.